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Matsubara High School – Cultural Festival in Progress
Second Gymnasium
From the perspective of a certain male high school student
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“Hey. I heard Satou-senpai, who graduated last year, brought a girl from Matsujo with him!”
“Who’s Satou-senpai?”
“He’s the guy who was the basketball club captain before Oishi-senpai in third year.”
“Why would someone like that come here dragging a girl around?”
I overheard that kind of conversation.
It’s been eight months since I entered Matsuko. The all-boys vibe is fun, but still, I’d like a little taste of youth...
Honestly, I want a girlfriend. Lately I’ve been so starved for girls that I can feel my standards for “cute” dropping fast. Every high school girl I pass on the train looks cute to me. Man, I want a girlfriend too.
So how can I get to know the cute girl (or so I want to believe) that this Satou-senpai brought along?
Oh, right! If she’s coming here, then she’ll be watching the basketball, and that means I can show off a cool side before going to talk to her—
Wait, no. Even if I want to go talk to her, to be real, I have no idea what to talk about with girls. These days, I even get nervous talking to my little sister’s friends. But still, without chances to meet girls, there’s no way to add color to my youth...
While I was off by myself agonizing over it, the upperclassman who became captain over the summer called out to me.
“Hey hey, what are you doing trying to look cool all alone? Don’t go playing the lone-wolf act.”
“That’s not it. Um, I don’t really know this Satou-senpai, but he’s probably just here to show off his girlfriend, right? That’s just gonna make the rest of us feel lame.”
“No, get this—apparently, all the girls he brought today are single! And not just that—they’re all cute! That info’s from Aizawa, who gave one of the girls an admission ticket. I think it’s reliable.”
“What? Seriously? But, I mean, I...”
“What, are you secretly into guys?”
“No! It’s just that I really don’t know what to say to girls. Like, the other day, my second-year middle school sister brought some friends over, and I couldn’t say a single thing to them...”
“Ahahaha! Wow, you’re really hopeless!”
Living in a space cut off from girls, you honestly lose all idea of what to talk about.
...Is this just me?
While we were having that conversation, the rumored Satou-senpai showed up with four high school girls.
At a glance, the ones who stand out are a tiny, doll-like beauty who looks Eastern European, and another girl with a tall, model-like figure, about as tall as me.
Whoa.
They’re seriously high level.
And the other two are... wait! Hey!!!
“And here’s the basketball club’s intro booth.”
“Huh? Why do sports clubs have booths?”
“Well, it’s to recruit next year’s new students. For Matsuko’s culture festival, if you’re from a local junior high, you can get in just by showing your student ID instead of a ticket. So years ago, someone pointed out that it wasn’t fair for only the cultural clubs to get a chance to promote themselves to future students. Since then, if a sports club wants it, they get to have a booth too.”
“Whaaat? So you’re scouting talent before they even enroll?! We should’ve done that for our team at Matsujo too!”
“Let’s do it next year for the volleyball team, Yuu-chan!”
“Ehh, that sounds like a pain...”
W-w-what!?
Why are they here—
“Oh, it’s Togawa!”
“Huh, you’re right. Togawa-kun, Toga-kun, it’s been a while! So you two ended up at Matsuko, huh?”
“Y-yeah. Long time no see. Since middle school, right? You two are at Matsujo?”
Maejima and Tohira. We’ve known each other since elementary school—
“Hey, Toga. You know them?”
“Yeah, I went to the same elementary and middle school as these two. Especially in elementary school, we were in the same local mini basketball and volleyball clubs.”
Well, we were on separate boys’ and girls’ teams, so it’s not like we were actual teammates, but we used to have a lot of practice matches. Until fifth grade, we kept losing in both basketball and volleyball, but by sixth grade, we started winning instead. That’s when I kind of started to understand the difference between boys and girls.
Even though sixth grade was just four years ago, it feels like a long time ago now.
...“Togawa-kun,” “Toga-kun,” huh. I haven’t heard that in a while. The only one who calls me that is Tohira.
“Sanada. Long time no see. I heard you’re the captain now. I thought for sure Akashi would take that spot.”
“I only became captain because, like Satou-senpai, I’m good at ‘coordination.’”
“I see. It’s tough, you know. When someone who’s not the best at the sport becomes captain, it’s hard to earn the team’s respect, and the pressure piles on. Take it from me—it’s no joke.”
“That’s why I’m confident I can do it. I might not be the best player, just like Satou-senpai wasn’t, but if I put my heart into it like he did, I know the team will follow me.”
“Flattery won’t get you anything, you know?”
“No, really. I’m already super grateful just for you bringing high school girls with you.”
“Still, not a single third-year stayed on, huh?”
“Well, we are just a regular public school—”
Second-year Captain Sanada and Satou-senpai are chatting about how the club’s doing. Meanwhile—
“Hey, Togawa. What’s your basketball club doing here?”
“We’re running a 3-on-3 game. As you can see, we didn’t get a full court’s worth of space from the school, but it’s enough to do 3-on-3.
We mostly play against our own classmates who are wandering around for a break from the festival. But the main thing is to go up against visiting middle schoolers, crush them, and show off how cool high schoolers are.”
“That’s not very mature.”
“Let us have this. We’ve got our pride as upperclassmen too. And if we lose, we’ll look seriously lame. We’re under pressure too, you know.”
“...You’re still playing basketball, huh, Togawa? I’m kind of jealous.”
“Huh? You quit, Maejima?”
“...There aren’t enough members to keep the basketball team going at Matsujo. So I had no choice but to register with the volleyball team too. On paper, I’m in both, but the basketball club’s basically on hold right now.”
“What kind of manga scenario is that? What happened?”
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I thought I couldn’t talk to girls, but Maejima’s different. It’s not just because we went to the same elementary school. I mean, I spoke a little with Tohira earlier, and that didn’t go anywhere—just stuff like “Yeah, that’s right,” and “Oh, really?” Basic back-and-forth that fizzled out fast.
That must be why I ended up saying something like this without thinking:
“Wait, so you haven’t played basketball in a while? How about it? If you don’t mind, I’ll play against you.”
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Point of View Change
Tachibana Yuuri’s POV
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“You guys, rejoice! We’ve arranged a 3-on-3 basketball match with the Matsuko's basketball team!”
OK.
First off, explain how that happened.
“Huh? Oh, I was talking to that guy over there, Togawa, and we ended up deciding to settle things with a basketball match.”
OK.
So it was decided on a whim. But we’re all wearing skirts, you know?
“Actually, I have a pair of PE shorts in my bag.”
…It’s probably just that she forgot to take them out after volleyball practice or something.
By the way, I should mention this now, but we’re not wearing leather shoes on our feet—we’re in standard indoor slippers. Matsuko’s culture festival encourages bringing your own indoor shoes, so we brought ours along.
They’ve got basketball shoes, we’ve got indoor slippers—there’s no way this will be a fair match. But honestly, the fact that we’re high school girls going up against high school boys is already a much bigger issue than footwear.
“So that settles Mirai. What about the other two?”
“Satou-san, you were the captain of your basketball club, right? That means you can play, right?”
“I haven’t really exercised since entering college, so don’t expect too much, but I guess I can manage a bit.”
“Nice. Now we just need one more.”
Yuuta’s been good at basketball since elementary school—at least, in my opinion. But right now, he’s wearing chinos. They’re not impossible to move in, but they’re not great for serious physical activity either. His shoes are just regular gym shoes he uses for college PE. Still, he’s young, male, and experienced, so he’s bound to be more useful than Mirai.
“None of you brought anything to wear under your skirts, right? Hold on. Hey, Togawa! You’ve got spare jerseys from gym class, not just your basketball uniforms, right? Lend us those.”
Wait, what?
You want us to wear the boys’ gym clothes?
From people we don’t even know…?
I mean, I don’t really care, but the others might. Isn’t that pushing it?
We still need one more person for a 3-on-3. Logically, it’d be either Asuka or Kaori since they have basketball experience. I’m the least skilled, so there’s no way I’d be the one to—
“Hey, Ninja. Wear this and get out there.”
Mirai tossed me a pair of Matsujou PE shorts from her bag.
“Eh? I’m going out there? Wait, aren’t you going to play in your skirt?”
“Are you dumb? Why would I risk flashing everyone? I’m wearing this Matsuko jersey I swiped earlier under my skirt.”
“Oh, so you’re not wearing your own gym clothes?”
“Of course not. If it was someone I knew, maybe, but wearing a random guy’s gym clothes? Could you do that? I can’t. I’ll wash these and return them later, but you don’t even know where Togawa lives, right? His place is near mine. I’ll wash and return them tomorrow evening.”
“Still, why me? Asuka or Kaori are better at basketball.”
“There’s no one else. Kaori and I are different heights, so my shorts wouldn’t fit her. Asuka might be close in height, but she’s got a big butt, so she might split them if she squats—”
“Whose butt is big, huh?! Mine?! Just because I wear your shorts doesn’t mean they’re gonna rip!”
One weird thing about being a girl: having big boobs is sometimes seen as a compliment, but having a big butt is almost always an insult. Strange.
“So yeah, you’re the only choice. Also, you’re the only one tall enough to match the guys.”
“Well, it’s easier for me to play basketball with Yuu—ri anyway, so I’m good with that.”
“If you say so, I’ll play, but I’m honestly terrible at it.”
“We know. Hey, Togawa! Give us a handicap! Our tiny little foreigner here’s a complete beginner!”
You're the one who challenged them, and now you’re asking for a handicap?
“Sanada. You’re not seriously gonna go full force against high school girls as a member of the boys’ basketball club, are you?”
Wow. Yuuta’s bullying his juniors now.
“Satou-senpai, that’s borderline blackmail. Well, alright. How about we double the points when the girls score?”
“Perfect. Let’s go with that.”
Yuuta’s ruthless. I might look like this, but I can dunk. They don’t know that, but we do. Yuuta’s always been sneaky like this—can’t let my guard down around him.
Still, playing basketball against boys is gonna be tough. Even with my physical abilities, the fact remains: I’m small and light. That means in a contact-heavy sport like this, I’m at a disadvantage.
Take soccer in gym class, for example.
In the first term, the girls at Matsujou were still relatively gentle, but by second term, they’d toughened up, and I started getting knocked around pretty easily.
Today’s opponents aren’t girls—they’re high school boys. Actual basketball club members. That means we’ll have to rack up points while they’re still underestimating us, then somehow hold on to the lead.
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Matsubara High School – During the Culture Festival
Second Gymnasium
POV: A Basketball Club Member
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For some reason, we’re playing a 3-on-3 match against one college student and two high school girls.
There’s no way this is going to be a fair game.
One of the girls, Maejima, has experience. She played in elementary and middle school, so I can understand her being on the team.
But the other girl—the foreigner—clearly isn’t suited for this.
Let’s be blunt: basketball is a sport where size matters.
All three of us, including me, are around 180 cm tall. We’ve got solid athletic builds, typical of boys who play sports. We’ve all got six-packs. And we’re in full gear—team uniforms and basketball shoes—because we’re also here to show off to the middle schoolers visiting.
Meanwhile, on their side, Satou-senpai is okay, I guess. But Maejima is maybe 160 cm at most, and no matter how athletic she is, she’s still a girl. Her frame is petite, and her physical ability is clearly below ours.
The foreigner is even less suited for this. She’s shorter than Maejima—probably mid-150s. Her thin legs wrapped in black tights look as fragile as our arms. Her shoulders are maybe half as wide as ours.
…If I accidentally charged into her, she might actually go flying and break a bone or something.
Honestly, I’d rather she switch with Tohira, who at least looks sturdier.
My guess is that this foreigner is Satou-senpai’s girlfriend. There’s no other way to explain how close they are—unless they’ve been best friends for a decade. The way they invade each other’s personal space… That’s not something you see unless they’re dating.
I respect senpai’s desire to impress his girlfriend, but still… that outfit...
Senpai looks casual enough in regular clothes, but Maejima and the foreigner are just wearing their Matsujou uniforms with the blazers taken off and pants worn under their skirts.
They’re in indoor slippers too, which are definitely slipperier than basketball shoes. Slippery shoes mean you can’t plant your feet properly, which also means poor jumping ability.
“—So, if Mirai and I score, it counts double? That means a regular shot is four points, and a three-pointer would be six, right?”
“No, in 3-on-3, normal shots are one point, and from beyond the arc, two points.”
“You only get 12 seconds on the shot clock, so you need to attack fast after gaining possession.”
“Ah—about that. That girl on your team’s a basketball newbie, right? Then how about this: Satou-senpai’s team doesn’t have a shot clock limit.”
…So that’s what this is?
From what I heard, Satou-senpai came to show the Matsuko culture festival to the foreign girl, who didn’t know what a Japanese school festival was.
So maybe this isn’t about winning. Maybe it’s more about letting her experience Japan.
If that’s the case, then I get why they picked those players.
Hmm…
Maybe I should go easy for the first half, make it fun for her.
Let them win early, tighten the game in the middle, then let them win at the end—sounds like a solid plan.
Most of the students from our school and the visiting middle schoolers are probably over at the concert in the first gym right now anyway.
…We would come to regret that misjudgment just a few minutes later.
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